Departures and Arrivals
by Keira14
Summary: Says the story of an orange haired boy and his raven haired best friend and a glance through seven years of their lives, who says airports are boring anyways? -ICHIRUKI- one-shot.


A couple of hours at the airport and I just _had_ to write this when I saw a couple in front of me, that reminded me of Ichigo and Rukia, with the height difference, the behavior and what nots.

 **Disclaimer: If only bleach was mine…**

I have no special character in mind for the narrator, it's up to you guys to figure that out. Let me know who you think could be the narrator!

* * *

I had started working at the Airport in Tokyo for some time now, nearly six months. It took me some time to get used to working here as it was a hundred times busier than the city's airport I moved from.

The airport was certainly bigger, with me stamping away the passports of thousands of people on a daily basis at my night shift at departures.

I was a keen observer of everything that went around me, my favorite past time was watching the people there, embracing or kissing, as last jokes were made, tears were shed on their departure. It was always fun to figure out and ponder on who held the position in the family, was the girl the sister or the daughter? Was the man a father or brother? I bore witness to millions of such scenarios.

There were these two people that caught my attention then, from my second week working. I remember them to this day, seven years from that time and they stayed inside my head even after I had left my job.

For the first three years, they always arrived with a group of friends. 'They' are none but the boy and girl I found intriguing. The boy was tall with ridiculous tangerine spiky hair, a scowl always plastered on his handsome face. The girl was almost half his height, petite and fair with a beautiful pair of violet eyes and silky raven hair. The friends they travelled with were around their age which was probably nineteen or twenty, they all were students I guessed.

All of them laughed together and teased the tangerine haired kid who looked bored but I could tell he was happy with them. He argued the most with the raven haired girl when they saw him off, she was quite the teaser who managed to keep up with him and not back down in their arguments, and it was quite a feat since the boy was blessed with the talent of scaring away others with his constant scowl and glare.

I was amused when I saw the girl half his size, hit him and he complained about it, annoyed but I saw a rare smile on his face.

His name was Ichigo Kurosaki, I found out when he showed me his passport and his ticket said he was travelling to Karakura. I stamped the document and he headed inside when I returned it to him. I watched as he turned around to find his friends waving slightly, his eyes fell on violet ones and she just smirked in response, her hands crossed over her chest. Something passed between them and the boy smirked back and tuned around to head inside.

From then on I always saw him going to Karakura every fortnight, he started talking to me, seeing as I was always the one who checked him in, because of my night shift. I never asked him why he went there, perhaps he had his family there, I do not know. I remember the time when my curiosity got the best of me and I had asked him of his relationship with the raven haired girl, casually commenting on 'your girlfriend smiling at you' who always came with him, it was either with the whole group or just with him. His reaction had been priceless, with crimson cheeks he had shaken his head, quickly telling him that she was just his best friend. The girl also travelled with him at times, her name was Rukia Kuchiki. She was polite with me always asking about my day and other things.

My third year there and with no change in my shift, I wondered what was going on with the friends, the boy still travelled but his schedule was erratic, and he started coming alone more often, looking sullen and depressed. I found the answer to my questions when I saw her one day with another guy, this one a redhead with many tattoos. I saw the way the guy talked to her and realized he was her boyfriend, she travelled with him to Seireitei looking troubled but talking to him nonetheless, I found myself sad when I saw the guy kiss her, not because of the intimate action but because of the fact that the orange haired boy was standing behind them, hidden from there sight, hurt clouded in his eyes as he stayed rooted to the spot, long after the couple had gone. He was still there when my shift ended.

For a while then, I did not see both of them and considered asking my supervisor to shift me to arrivals instead of departures but I let it be.

Six months later, they both returned, looking a lot mature, and I was happy to see the both of them smiling and the familiar sight of their banter and bickering made me happier but not as much as when I saw him lean down and capture her lips in a slow kiss, that had me overjoyed. She pulled him back down when he broke apart and this time I gave him a knowing grin, which he returned with one of his own, his cheeks slightly flushed.

The next two years passed by in a blur and I had a change in my shift, now I saw them in the arrivals, him coming while she sat waiting for him. They were still in a relationship, and that made me happy. I remember the time I saw both of their names in front of me, I had been tired that day and wasn't in a mood to see anybody but had looked up from the paper to see both of them dressed casually, they were literally glowing from the grins on their faces and I saw his hand on the counter and a silver band sparkling caught my eye. I looked at the ring on both of their fingers and promptly looked down at their passports which read, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia _Kurosaki_. I congratulated them and they thanked me, saying it had been just two weeks since they tied the knot. I let them pass after checking out where they had come from and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw that it was Hawaii, as if their after glow's weren't proof enough.

I enjoyed seeing them the following year, this time she always fussed over him, making him check his belongings repeatedly until he silenced her with his lips. I figured he started working since now he travelled to different cities rather than Karakura and I saw less of them.

I had taken a _long_ leave the next year due to some circumstances, nearly losing my job and was surprised to see them on my first day back, her hair had grown longer and the man looked a lot more adult now, I watched with wide eyes as she came to greet him with a bundle of blankets wrapped up in her arms and saw the same tangerine hair poking out of the blanket. He kissed her and cuddled the baby and they both laughed together, after she teased him. They showed me the baby girl, who had her father's hair and mother's eyes. I was sure they would make excellent parents from the gleam and pride in their eyes.

Six months later an airplane had a terrible accident during turbulences, they had lost all signal with the plane and was positive it had crashed, it was a tragedy that it happened just seconds before landing.

Numerous people sat on the metal chairs waiting since a few hours ago in hopes that the news was wrong and the plane would land soon. It broke my heart seeing so many grief stricken faces, some were quiet with blank faces while others cried openly.

My gaze fell upon orange hair and my stomach dropped when I saw his pale face and anxious eyes. I realized what happened and wondered if this is what fate did. The woman who never travelled and the guy who always travelled had switched roles and it was worse since now he had two lives to worry about.

I could tell he was blaming himself and I prayed then for the hopes of the people to be answered.

A miracle they called it, the plane sustaining the damage and being able to land, only a few people being injured in the process. There was more crying as the shaken people came and the waiting families rejoiced. I felt relief course through me when I saw the violet eyed woman come, her face pale and her eyes moist as she clutched her baby in her arms, looking around desperately. I saw her slightly shaking and almost rushed to help when her knees gave out but she fell into the arms of her husband, he crushed her in an embrace, tears flowing down his cheeks as he kissed her head repeatedly. She was crying too as she held on to him and gave him a watery smile as he hugged their daughter, with her in the embrace. He pulled back and gave her a once over, checking for any injuries and she lightly pushed him away with a smile for worrying, which caused him to pull her back in another bone crushing hug, he pulled back when the baby started crying and he took her from her mother and clung to her, closing his eyes as he rocked her. I turned away when he kissed his wife, leaving them in their happy bubble.

The next year, I worked with all determination as I was leaving the city and going back home, I wanted to put all my effort into it, showing my gratitude to the big airport and my colleagues.

The last I saw of them before returning had been quiet a pleasant surprise. I shifted back to departures and saw them, he stood fussing over his _very_ pregnant wife who was yelling at him. He had all their hand carry hung over his shoulders, which included a purse, a laptop bag and a baby bag, the baby girl in his arms seemed to be laughing at her father being yelled at. The wife seemed to be telling him to give her the bright pink baby bag that looked ridiculous on a man. I saw her trying to take their daughter but he didn't let her go. He didn't seem to care about it as he tried helping her walk while flat out refusing her, she snapped at him as she waddled over, with him slamming the passports on the counter. I found out that they too were leaving Tokyo, getting settled in Karakura, their hometown. I congratulated them again and they thanked me as they went inside, her yelling continued from then on and I smiled inwardly.

Some things never changed, no matter the passage of time.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, I just love one-shots sometimes!

Please Review and let me know what you think!

And I _will_ be aware of those who favorite or follow the story, so just take a few more seconds and review along with it, would ya?

Enjoy!


End file.
